Could Heath possibly have had ADHD dont shoot me !!!!

[optom3]

I have watched so many interviews with Heath now, and it had been bugging me who he reminded me of.The answer is my own brother.He had the same could not sit still,constant fidgeting,poor eye contact,general discomfort when talking about himself.which often came over as a nervous twitchy,embarrassed laugh.
My brother also is an artist but a musician.He used to have terrible problems sleeping,could never switch off.
He adores his daughter and his wife but could not live full time with his wife.He dabbled in various drugs,drink etc,not so much to get a kick,more just to quiet his mind.and to try and switch off.In particular he smoked a lot of cigarettes and cannabis.
His salvation came at age 35 when he was diagnosed as ADHD and went on Ritalin.He is now a completely different person.Can sit still for periods,can switch off,and fidgets far less.He also maintains far better eye contact.
I realised that one of the reasons I found it so hard to watch Heath in interviews was he was so like my brother.Interestingly when playing music my brother was more relaxed,but never felt he had given a good performance.Constantly analysing and criticising.
Anyway don't shoot me down in flames,I love Heath whether or not.I just can't help wondering if maybe he would have benefited from such a diagnosis.I know I have seen an interview when someone asks him whether now he would have been classed as ADHD he laughs and shrugs.
Well food for thought,whether or not it is a terrible loss and still painful to deal with.
As an addendum I asked my bother to look at a few of Heaths interviews and his response,could have been me till 10 years ago.

[chefjudy]

  I don't know much about it personally, but it does sound plausible the way you describe it

[MilAn]

I just feel if someone helped him in time, this tragedy wouldn't have happened. Did his family or friends notice? Did they try to help? We'll probably never know!

[souxi]

Well it,s an interesting theory, but personally I,ve always thought that the reason Heath was so jumpy all the time was because he suffered with his nerves. He was on medication for anxiety, (nerves) which explains to me why he could never sit still. I presume that was the same reason he couldn,t sleep. He wanted to but his brain just wouldn,t shut up, so he took pills for that too. The ADHD theory is certainly interesting but like you said, I guess we,ll never really know now. There are always going to be a million "what ifs," arn,t there? I guess it,s just our way of trying to make sense of it all. Poor Heath.

[MaineWriter]

I have long thought this might be true. Everything you describe, Optom, pointed to ADHD to me. My daughter has ADHD and reading about Heath's years in school and what he went through and then looking at my daughter--there are lots of parallels.

My husband says, "It is not attention deficit disorder, it is attention deficit condition." Think of it as a strength, not a problem, and you can capitalize on your talents. I think this came through in Heath's acting and creativity.

There was an interesting article in the Wall St. Journal about ADHD. The guy who started Kinko's has ADHD. Also someone who started a airplane company--JetBlue maybe? Anyway, the article talked about how they struggled in school (sound familiar) but once they found their niche, they have been very successful.

L

[optom3]

I have long thought this might be true. Everything you describe, Optom, pointed to ADHD to me. My daughter has ADHD and reading about Heath's years in school and what he went through and then looking at my daughter--there are lots of parallels.

My husband says, "It is not attention deficit disorder, it is attention deficit condition." Think of it as a strength, not a problem, and you can capitalize on your talents. I think this came through in Heath's acting and creativity.

There was an interesting article in the Wall St. Journal about ADHD. The guy who started Kinko's has ADHD. Also someone who started a airplane company--JetBlue maybe? Anyway, the article talked about how they struggled in school (sound familiar) but once they found their niche, they have been very successful.

L

What you say makes a lot of sense.My brother had a terrible time at school.he was pretty well written off.Now he works for a law firm in Tokyo translating Japanese to English.He is fluent in Japanese.He married an Indian lady and is fluent in Urdu as well.
He works part time ,to allow him the time to devote to his music which he is quite extraordinarily gifted at.He plays violin,guitar,keyboards,saxophone,mandolin
All this from a kid who pretty well flunked school.
He wishes he had been diagnosed years ago.His way was to self  medicate with cannabis.It slowed down some of his frenetic energy.(I remeber Heath used to do this allegedly)
Like you say though it does give extraordinary bouts of creativity.I  just wish that Heath had also had something to quiet his mind for some of the time.
I remember him saying he just could not switch off so got little sleep.That was my brother exactly,when he was on one of his creative stints he would be up most nights,completely self absorbed.
That is fine to a point but the body does eventually need rest.That is what he now gets with the Ritalin.I well remeber my brother being quite literally desperate for sleep.
When I read about Heath I just thought oh my, you just sound like my brother used to.
Take heart with your daughter,she has been diagnosed which is a big plus.Have you tried the omega fish oils with her.That is something else my brother takes.
I think you are right in that once she finds her passion she will settle,and probably be extraordinarily good at it.The hard part is watching the jump from one thing to another until they do find their niche.
My only advice is watch her sleep.People do not I think realise how excrutiating, constant lack of sleep can become.When I hear my brother now, and we have become vvery close over the years,I am amazed he is still alive.He was an accident just waiting to happen just like Heath.
he says he understands exactly what Heath could  have done.So sleep deprived you just take more and more pills ,but because you are so sleep deprived,your brain is dulled and you simply lose track of what you have taken and when.All you know is you just have to get some sleep and switch off your mind.Because if you don't you will simply flip.It becomes the be all and end all.It breaks my heart when I read what Heath used to say, about the lack of sleep.I can hear my brother now.I just do not get why no one seemed to pay any heed to it.
I firmly believe most truly talented artists of whatever genre,suffer from some degree of problem.It is from such an overactive mind that true creativity and bursts of genius stem.
Maybe I am wrong but everything I have read,could have been my brothers life story,scary really.
I don't know how old your daughter is but the teenage years can be interesting!!!!

Finally if it helps,my brother would not change from being ADHD he says it has been the driving force in his music.Which he is just passionate about.Interestingly though he could never concentrate for long enough to read music.So all his early playing was by ear.He reads music now since he has been on the ritalin.

[Clyde-B]

Heath was a Chess player.  I think that would be hard to do with ADHD.

I always got the feeling he was nervous about exposing himself publically.  In his movies he was comfortable pretending to be someone else, but in interviews he had no mask to hide behind.  That could be scary enough to make anybody nervous.

[MaineWriter]

Heath was a Chess player.  I think that would be hard to do with ADHD.

Not necessarily. Not all people with ADHD have the "H." My daughter doesn't.

Optom: Some of your points...yes, the self-medicating with cannabis. Also nicotine (cigarettes). Heath quit smoking while Michelle was pregnant but started up again.

Another person this brings to mind is David Sedaris. If you read any of his books...his tics, his twitches, his slightly obsessive/compulsive behavior. More of the same.

My daughter is 16 going on 17. She is on medication, sees a therapist weekly. She had a really rough patch back in 7th and 8th grade. Things are slowly getting better.

Her special niche is art. And she's teaching herself Japanese!

L

[optom3]

Heath was a Chess player.  I think that would be hard to do with ADHD.

I always got the feeling he was nervous about exposing himself publically.  In his movies he was comfortable pretending to be someone else, but in interviews he had no mask to hide behind.  That could be scary enough to make anybody nervous.

Interestingly,quite the reverse ,re the chess is true.When they find something they love,they will concentrate for ever.Almost to an obsessive degree.Also you can be just ADD so less of the hyperactive component.
Just being nervous,to me does not explain the constant twitching and fiddling.I get terribly nervous over all sorts of things, but that just makes me tongue tied and shy.I don't constantly fiddle.My brother however used to, all the time.
I do not mean any of this as a criticism of Heath. I just feel it goes some way to explaining certain traits.It is not just me hypothesising. my brother became very interested in Heath after watching BBM, and he mentioned to me some time ago that watching him in interviews was like watching himself, before he was diagnosed.
My admiration for Heath knows no limits.I just wish he was still here.

[optom3]

Fiona, I agree.  I was diagnosed with adult ADHD myself, and what you say rings very true.  Going on meds in my thirties allowed me to sit still and work for long periods of time, whereas before it was always short bursts.  Most people are not familiar with the hyper-focus component of ADHD, where you can get so engaged with a task that it is hard to stop.  I found out several years ago that I had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but my mother would not agree to put me on meds.  As a parent, I can't say that I blame her, but I think of how difficult it was for me to sit through the school day, and how often I went off somewhere in my own head.  I developed coping mechanisms such as doodling and drawing, and constantly day-dreamed.  I often missed a great deal of what was going on in the classroom.  I didn't fully shine as a student until college, when I could select my own subjects on my own schedule, and did not have to sit in class for hours on end without a break.  I also "self-medicated" as a teen.  ADHD allows for great creativity, and Heath certainly exhibited that.  ADHD is distinct from nervousness/restlessness in that there is almost an inability to sit still.  You literally feel like you are going to explode.  It is not possible to diagnose someone with complete accuracy from afar, but the signs were there in Heath.  I prefer to think of ADHD as "Restless Body, Restless Mind" syndrome.  The meds allow the body to be in sync with the mind, leveling out some of the discordance.  If someone without ADHD takes the same meds, they will have an effect much like speed, but when a person with ADHD takes them, all appears normal.  I stopped my meds when I became pregnant and never went back on, and I can definitely feel the difference in myself without them.

Restless body and mind,that is such a good way of describing it.It sums up my brother completely.You are also spot on with what you say about being able to concentrate to the point of obsession when they are really into something.
The point about meds is so true as well.My son was originally diagnosed as ADHD and went on Ritalin. OMG  I have never seen anything like it,could not eat sleep anything.
We took him off and of course we now have the Bipolar diagnosis.For someone with bipolar to be put on ritalin is a disaster.They are already hyper and then you hype them up some more.
For my brother,the ritalin has allowed him to concentrate on the normal things in life as well as the things he loves.To those who do not have ADHD that may not sound like a big deal.But I am sure you know what it feels like.
He is very worried at the moment because wait for it, the Japanese have decided there is no such thing as ADHD in Japan and so have banned ritalin.!!!!!!!
He is trying to get it from his wife who lives in India (long story)
But he will have a rough time if he cant get hold of it. Aren't people odd, how can you just decide that an illness no longer exists.I guess it is a bit like Iran saying homosexuality does not exist in their country.
I may be stark staring bonkers mad, but sometimes I actually feel relatively normal compared to the likes of the afore mentioned.

In fact brain wave I am now going to declare that no diseases or illnesses exist,so we can all stop taking our meds.We dont need them.Oh no can't do that,I am not some nutcase running a country.just a mere mortal.Shame though,seemed a bit like nirvana there for a second!!!!!!

[optom3]

I can't believe that Japan would just decide to disrupt so many people's lives by banning Ritalin.  Maybe your brother could try another med?  The med of choice for adults is Dexedrine.

I know it is insane isn't it.I will mention the Dexedrine to him.It is really that he has done so well on Ritalin and been on it for about 10 years.He is in India at the moment as that is where his wife and child live.He therefore spends his life between India and Japan.So he is trying to get a prescription for Ritalin made up in India,then he is just going to have to see whether he is allowed to take it into Japan,with a letter from the Indian psychiatrist.
I sometimes think I have the most dysfunctional family in the world.
We both seem to have inherited the problems from our mother.I worry that if my oldest son has kids he will pass it all on again to yet another generation.
The other 2 kids seem fine and at 10 and 11 I am sure the problems would have shown up by now.They obviously have a bigger share of my husbands sane/sensible genes,thank goodness.

[optom3]

Now I think you are being too hard on yourself and your family.  Everyone is alive, more or less well, with many talents and achievements.

Actually now I come to think of it,I do have the distinction of being pronounced sane after they let me out of the lunatic asylum all those years ago.I bet not many people can say that!!!!!!
As the saying goes,there's more out than in.
I graduated from the hospital, and somewhere my parents have the discharge paes to proove I was cured, i.e back sane !!!!!!!!!